For many years, firearms manufacturers have
looked for ways to successfully chamber rimless cartridges in a
double-action revolver with a swing-out cylinder. The most
successful attempts have used moon clips; thin pieces of stamped
spring steel which hold the rims of the cartridge in sets.
Usually, the moon clips will hold two, three, five, or six
cartridges, but there are clips made to hold seven and eight
shots as well, for revolvers with as many chambers in the
cylinder. The moon clip method works well, but there have also
been designs that used no moon clips, using wire springs or
other methods to retain and eject the cartridges. Most of these
came and went without much commercial success.

Charter Arms of Shelton, Connecticut has been
developing a rimless double-action revolver for several months
now. I fired a prototype back in
January of this year, and the revolvers are now in
production. The Pit Bull uses a patented spring-loaded rim
engagement assembly. As the cartridges are loaded into the
chambers, they push the extractor out of the way. As the
cartridge is fully chambered, the extractor, a sliding piece of
stainless steel which is about three-sixteenths of an inch wide,
snaps into the rim solidly. Upon ejection, as the ejector rod is
operated as is normal with a double-action revolver, the
extractor rod system ejects all five rounds at once, positively
and quickly.

The execution of the system is a very good
design, but why build a revolver for a rimless cartridge, when
plenty of rimmed cartridges exist? The answer to that lies in
the performance, availability, and popularity of the 40 S&W
cartridge. The 40 S&W is one of the most popular handgun
cartridges in the United States. As such, availability of the
cartridge is excellent, with 40 S&W ammo being available
almost anywhere that ammunition is sold. Also due to its
popularity, the cost of 40 S&W ammo is reasonable, compared
to many popular revolver cartridges. Most importantly, the 40
S&W is a good, efficient cartridge for a medium-bore belly
gun.

In their 44 Bulldog and Bulldog
Pug revolvers, Charter Arms leads the industry in big-bore
belly guns. The 44 Charters have somewhat of a cult following,
and for good reason: the 44 Special in a small concealable
revolver is a great defensive weapon. The 40 S&W Pit Bull
follows in the same usage, with a slightly smaller bore, and a
very efficient cartridge. The five-shot Charters are relatively
small, lightweight, and compact; almost as small as a five shot
38 Special revolver, but packing more punch. The cylinder locks
into the frame at the front and rear for good alignment with the
barrel. The Pit Bull is made almost entirely of stainless steel,
and has a comfortable and controllable synthetic rubber grip,
with molded-in checkering for a positive hold. The hammer is
serrated for a non-slip surface for thumb-cocking the action for
a single-action trigger pull. The trigger face is smooth for a
steady double-action trigger pull. The stainless steel wears a
satin bead-blasted finish. The front sight is a long sloping
ramp and the ejector rod is enclosed, to make the Pit Bull
pocket-friendly, for a smooth, snag-free draw under pressure.

A revolver of this type is carried for
personal defense. If we know a fight is coming, most of us will
either try to avoid it, or prepare with heavier armament, such
as a shotgun, rifle, or a Marine platoon. However, we carry
handguns concealed because we never know when the fight will
come, so we must always be prepared, even if the fight is not
expected. A belly gun such as the Pit Bull makes a lot of sense.
Many folks think that five shots are not enough for a defensive
handgun, but statistics show that in most gunfights, five shots
are more than enough, and with the ejection system of the Pit
Bull, reloads can be quick if needed. Five shots of 40 caliber
in a compact, reliable package is a logical choice for most
folks who want to go heeled. A revolver is very easy to use, is
always ready with no safeties to manipulate, and has a very
simple manual-of-arms. To load the Pit Bull, the cylinder latch
is pushed forward with pressure on the right side of the
cylinder, and the cylinder swings out for loading. Press a
cartridge into each chamber, close the cylinder, and the Pit
Bull is ready to fight, whether put into action immediately, or
placed in a bedside drawer for months. I advocate rotating out
the ammunition at least once a month, as you should practice at
least that often, but the fact is, sometimes handguns are left
loaded for months or years at a time. A good revolver is more
likely to be ready to function reliably when left in such
condition than is a semi-auto.

Critical specifications are listed in the
chart below. Linear measurements are listed in inches. Weight is
listed in ounces. Trigger pull is listed as pounds of force. DA
is the double-action trigger pull, and SA is the single-action
trigger pull. The double-action pull was very smooth, and the
single-action pull crisp and relatively light for a belly gun.
Perfect.

Weight

20.5 Ounces

Overall Length

7 Inches

Overall Height

4.62 Inches

Cylinder Length

1.625 Inches

Cylinder Diameter

1.45 Inches

Barrel Length

2.265 Inches

Barrel Diameter

0.675 Inch

Trigger Pull DA

8.4 Pounds

Trigger Pull SA

3.5 Pounds

Barrel / Cylinder Gap

0.003 Inch

Velocity testing was done at an elevation of
541 feet above sea level, on a mild sunny day. Range
temperatures hovered in the seventy-eight degree range, with
forty-two percent humidity. Wind conditions were light, with a
slight gusty breeze. Velocities are listed in feet-per-second.
Bullet weights are listed in grains. JHP is a jacketed
hollowpoint bullet. DPX is a homogenous copper hollow cavity
bullet. PB is Cor-Bon Pow’R Ball, a
specialty hollowpoint bullet with a nylon ball inserted into the
hollow nose. EPR is a specialty round from Extreme
Shock with a polymer ball in the nose of a hollowpoint
bullet. FMJ is a full metal jacket bullet. Velocities were
recorded at a distance of ten feet from the muzzle.

Ammunition

Bullet Weight

Velocity

Cor-Bon DPX

140

1090

Cor-Bon JHP

135

1201

Cor-Bon PB

135

1272

Buffalo Bore JHP

155

1178

Buffalo Bore JHP

180

1002

Buffalo Bore FMJ

180

995

Extreme Shock EPR

150

1013

Black Hills JHP

180

907

Stryker JHP

180

857

Accuracy of the Charter Pit Bull was very
good. I made no attempt to make a bulls-eye revolver out of this
handgun, as the sight radius is short, but I did try some
twenty-five yard shots on a silhouette target, and the Pit Bull
did very well. Standing on my hind legs like a man, I could
center a cylinder-full into the vital zone quickly, and making a
head shot was also fairly easy, if I took careful aim. From the
bench, the Pit Bull would cluster its shots into groups
measuring between two and three-quarters and three and
three-quarters inches with most ammo. My favorite load for the
Pit Bull is the Buffalo Bore 180 grain jacketed hollowpoint.
This load leaves the barrel of the Pit Bull in excess of one
thousand feet-per-second, and would be my choice of a carry load
for defense, against man or animal.

The Charter Pit Bull proved to be well-built
and reliable. No problems were encountered at all. Every
cartridge fired and ejected perfectly, even the Plus P
hollowpoints. There was no sticky extraction experienced. The
Pit Bull had a perfect barrel/cylinder gap, measuring only three
one-thousandths (.003) of an inch, which is tighter than many
revolvers costing hundreds of dollars more. While on that
subject, Charter revolvers have always been priced
competitively, costing no more than many imported revolvers, but
made entirely in the USA.